Magnetic component connector, circuit boards for use therewith, and kits for building and designing circuits

ABSTRACT

Printed circuit boards and breadboard devices have contact pads and magnetic component connectors where connection between the contact pads and the magnetic component connectors are made by magnetic force. Either the contact pad or the magnetic component connector will be magnetic and the other will be made of a material to which a magnet will be attracted. For example, printed circuit boards, which usually have copper traces, include contact pads made of a material to which a magnet will be attracted. Circuit components are connected to magnetic component connectors having magnetic legs which then connect the components to the contact pads of the circuit board or breadboard device. This makes the connection of components to a printed circuit board or breadboard device fast and easy and provides for easy removal and replacement of components. Magnetic component connectors can also be configured to connect magnetically to one another.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of application Ser. No. 11/788,369filed Apr. 18, 2007 and entitled Magnetic Component Connector, CircuitBoards for Use Therewith, and Kits for Building and Designing Circuits,now U.S. Pat. No. 7,611,357, which was a continuation-in-part of PCTapplication No. PCT/KR2006/003696, filed Sep. 15, 2006, entitled“Electrical Components and Breadboard for Electronic Circuit Study Kit”,incorporated herein by reference, and which claimed the benefit ofProvisional Application Ser. No. 60/856,417 filed Nov. 3, 2006, andentitled “Magnetic Component Connector For Printed Circuit Boards”,incorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field

The invention is in the field of assembling electronic circuits, andparticularly assembling electronic circuits on printed circuit boardsand on breadboard devices. The invention is also in the field of kitsfor building electronic circuits and component parts for buildingelectronic circuits.

2. State of the Art

It is common practice in assembling electronic circuits to lay out andform conductive traces on a broad side of a printed circuit board withthe traces laid out to connect individual circuit components. Usuallythe conductive traces are formed on one side of the printed circuitboard, referred to herein as the back side of the printed circuit board.Holes extend through the printed circuit board and through conductivepads of the conductive traces formed around each hole on the back sideof the printed circuit board. The individual electronic componentsrequired for the circuit are usually attached to the opposite side ofthe printed circuit board, referred to herein as the front side, bypassing the leads of the components through appropriate holes in theprinted circuit board from the front side and attaching the leads to theconductive pads of the traces on the back side, usually by soldering theleads to the conductive pads surrounding the hole through which the leadis passed. After soldering, any excess length of the component leadextending beyond the solder joint is usually cut off.

Where circuits are assembled on a mass production basis, automatedsoldering equipment is used. However, in many instances, a circuit ishand soldered by a person assembling the circuit. This is particularlytrue where electronic kits are provided for educational purposes orwhere a new circuit is being designed and tested. For example, a kit fora particular type of circuit, such as a radio, may be given to orotherwise obtained by a child to assemble for educational purposes. Thekit will usually include a printed circuit board and the necessaryelectronic components to be connected by soldering to the printedcircuit board to make the desired circuit. The soldering of thecomponents is usually not an essential learning step to be performed bythe child and, soldering can be difficult and dangerous for a child.First, the person doing the soldering has to have a soldering iron. Aninexperienced person can easily burn himself or herself with thesoldering iron. Also, excessive heat can damage and destroy electroniccomponents. Thus, if too much heat is applied to a component duringsoldering, the component can be destroyed. Further, if substitution ofcomponents is a part of the learning exercise in assembling and workingwith the circuit, or is part of designing and testing a new circuit,soldering the components to the printed circuit board iscounterproductive in that a particular component may have to beunsoldered to disconnect it from the circuit to replace it with asubstitute component.

For explanation purposes, FIG. 1 shows the back side of a prior artprinted circuit board 20 having conductive traces 22 thereon. Holes 24extend through the printed circuit board and intersect selectedconductive traces 22 at desired locations for connection of leads fromelectronic components to be used in the circuit to be constructed.Usually traces 22 include conductive pads 26 around the holes 24. Theconductive traces 22 and holes 24 are arranged to connect variouselectronic components in a desired manner to provide a desiredelectronic circuit. The individual electronic components required forthe circuit are then attached to the traces, usually by insertingcomponent leads through appropriate holes from the front side of theboard, and soldering the leads to the conductive pads 26 of traces 22surrounding respective holes 24. FIG. 2 shows the front side of theprior art printed circuit board 20 of FIG. 1. The particular printedcircuit board shown is used in an educational kit for building aparticular circuit, so the front side of the printed circuit boardincludes representations 28 of the components to be used in the circuitand instructs a user as to which components go where and which componentleads are to be inserted by the user in which particular holes 24. FIG.3 shows a component 30 mounted on the front side of the board 20 withleads 32, FIG. 4, from the component 30 inserted into and extendingthrough appropriate receiving holes 24 through the board 20. FIG. 4shows the backside of the board 20 with the component leads 32 ofcomponent 30 shown in FIG. 3 extending from holes 24 through conductivepads 26 of respective conductive traces 22 in position to be soldered tothe respective conductive pads 26. The leads 32, FIG. 4, extending fromthe backside of the board 20 are soldered by the user to the conductivepads 26 surrounding the holes 24 through which the leads 32 extend toconnect the component leads to appropriate respective traces 22. Theends of the leads then extending beyond the solder connection can be cutoff.

Various breadboarding devices are available for use in designingelectronic circuits where the leads of electronic components can beinserted into connectors on a breadboard device which provideconnections to other selected components. The connectors are usuallyarranged in predetermined patterns so that a user can create desiredconnections between circuit components by selecting the particularconnectors for particular components. However, such breadboardingdevices generally require special knowledge of the devices and how theywork and are not generally used in merely assembling a particulardesired circuit in an educational kit. An educational circuit buildingkit usually provides a printed circuit board specifically configured forthe particular circuit to be built along with the various electroniccomponents to be assembled to the printed circuit board. There is a needfor a simple and easy way of connecting and interchanging electroniccomponents in building electronic circuits, particularly in connectionwith educational kits for circuits where the user does not have specialelectronic design knowledge, and in connection with breadboard deviceswhere it may be desired to be able to easily connect, disconnect, andchange components used in designing and constructing a circuit.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

According to the invention, printed circuit boards and breadboarddevices can be produced with conductive contact pads and magneticcomponent connectors where connection between the contact pads and themagnetic component connectors can be made by magnetic force. One ofeither the contact pad or the magnetic component connector will bemagnetic and the other will be made of a material, such as aferromagnetic material, to which a magnet will be attracted. Forexample, printed circuit boards, which usually have copper traces whichdo not attract a magnet, can be produced with contact pads made of amaterial, such as a ferromagnetic material like steel, iron, cobalt,nickel, or alloys of these materials, to which a magnet will beattracted. Circuit components are connected to magnetic componentconnectors having magnetic legs which then are used to connect thecomponents to the contact pads of the circuit board or breadboarddevice. Alternatively, the contact pads can be magnetic with themagnetic component connectors having legs made of a material to whichmagnets are attracted so that, again, the magnetic component connectorlegs are magnetically connected to the contact pads. This makes theconnection of components to a printed circuit board or breadboard devicefast and easy and provides for easy removal and replacement ofcomponents. Also, magnetic component connectors can be configured to notonly connect magnetically to printed circuit boards or breadboarddevices, but also to one another so that components can be connected toform a circuit or part of a circuit by direct connection of magneticcomponent connectors.

In one embodiment of the invention, a magnetic component connectorincludes a plurality of electrically conductive magnetic legs joined inpredetermined configuration by a nonconductive material. The leads of anelectronic component to be connected to a printed circuit board orbreadboard device are electrically connected to the magnetic legs of themagnetic component connector. Such connection can be in any suitablemanner, such as by soldering, with clip connectors, etc. The componentscan be soldered on a production basis to the magnetic componentconnectors so that the components are supplied to the user pre-solderedto the connectors. All a user has to do to connect the component to theprinted circuit board is to place the connector legs over the desiredcontact pads and the magnetic legs will contact and magnetically adhereto the pads and make electrical contact with the pads. If the pads aremagnetic and the component connector legs are of a material which willbe attracted by a magnet, similarly, all a user has to do is to placethe component connector legs over the desired contact pads and themagnetic contact pads will attract and magnetically adhere the legs tothe pads. Since a magnetic connection between the component connectorand the contact pads is established in either situation, for purposes ofthe invention, the component connectors will be referred to as “magneticcomponent connectors” in both the situation where the legs of theconnector are magnets or in the situation where the legs are not magnetsbut are made of material to which magnets are attracted. Where it isdesired to be able to directly connect magnetic component connectors,the magnetic component connectors can be configured with short magneticlegs extending from opposite sides of the magnetic component connectorso that one leg of one magnetic component connector can be connected bymagnetic force directly to a magnetic leg of another magnetic componentconnector.

THE DRAWINGS

In the accompanying drawings, which show the best mode currentlycontemplated for carrying out the invention:

FIG. 1 is a back side view of a prior art printed circuit board showingconductive traces thereon;

FIG. 2 is a front side view of the prior art printed circuit board ofFIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a front side view of the prior art printed circuit boardsimilar to that of FIG. 2, but showing an electronic component in placeon the board;

FIG. 4 is a back side view of the prior art printed circuit boardsimilar to that of FIG. 1, but showing the component leads of thecomponent shown in FIG. 3 extending from the holes in the board;

FIG. 5 is a front side view of an example of a printed circuit board ofthe invention;

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of an example of a magnetic componentconnector of the invention, this example being a two leg embodiment ofmagnetic component connector;

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of the two leg magnetic component connectorof FIG. 6 with a different component connected thereto;

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of the two leg magnetic component connectorof FIG. 6 with a different component connected thereto;

FIG. 9 is a perspective view of the two leg magnetic component connectorof FIG. 6 with a different component connected thereto;

FIG. 10 is a perspective view of a three leg embodiment of magneticcomponent connector of the invention;

FIG. 11 is a front side view of the printed circuit board of FIG. 5showing the magnetic component connectors of FIGS. 6-10 connectedthereto;

FIG. 12 is a fragmentary vertical section through a portion of theprinted circuit board of FIG. 11 taken on the line 12-12 of FIG. 11,showing two of the holes through the printed circuit board with contactpads thereover, and with the legs of one of the magnetic componentconnectors shown in FIG. 11 secured to the contact pads;

FIG. 13 is a fragmentary vertical section similar to that of FIG. 12showing a different embodiment of the printed circuit board and magneticcomponent connector attachment;

FIG. 14 is a fragmentary vertical section similar to that of FIG. 12showing a different embodiment of the printed circuit board and magneticcomponent connector attachment;

FIG. 15 is an exploded view of a magnetic component connector for anintegrated circuit;

FIG. 16 is an exploded view of a magnetic component connector similar tothat of FIG. 15 but showing the magnetic legs mounted differently;

FIG. 17 is a vertical section through the connector of FIG. 16, taken onthe line 17-17 of FIG. 16;

FIG. 18 is an exploded view of a magnetic component connector for apreassembled sub-circuit for use in a larger circuit to be assembled;

FIG. 19 is a fragmentary top plan view of a breadboard device of theinvention;

FIG. 20 is a fragmentary top plan view of the breadboard device of FIG.19 showing a printed circuit board mounted thereon of showing magneticcomponent connectors of the invention mounted to both the breadboarddevice on the printed circuit board;

FIG. 21 is a perspective view of another embodiment of magneticcomponent connector of the invention;

FIG. 22 is a perspective view of another magnetic component connector ofthe invention similar to that of FIG. 21;

FIG. 23 is a perspective view of a base and several magnetic componentconnectors of FIGS. 21 and 22 mounted thereon;

FIG. 24 is a side elevation of an alternate embodiment of magnetic legmounting;

FIG. 25 is a side elevation of a further alternate embodiment ofmagnetic leg mounting;

FIG. 26 is a side elevation of a still further alternate embodiment ofmagnetic leg mounting; and

FIG. 27 is a side elevation of a further embodiment of a printed circuitboard of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE ILLUSTRATED EMBODIMENTS

The current invention provides a magnetic connection of electroniccomponents to form electronic circuits. The electronic components aremounted on magnetic component connectors and the magnetic componentconnectors are interconnected to interconnect the electronic componentseither through conductors such as provided by printed circuit boards orbreadboard devices to which the magnetic component connectors aremagnetically connected, or through direct magnetic connection of themagnetic component connectors. The magnetic component connectors can beeasily connected to or disconnected from the conductors or from oneanother to assemble circuits or to change components in a circuit.

An example of an embodiment of the invention provided in the form of akit for assembly of an electronic circuit is shown in FIGS. 5-12. Thekit of FIGS. 5-12 builds the same circuit as the prior art kit of FIGS.1-4 and shows how the invention can be applied to such a kit toeliminate the need for soldering components to the printed circuitboard. Use of the magnetic attachment of components of the inventionmakes assembly of the components quick and easy. It also shows how theinvention allows easy substitution of components. For ease ofcomparison, the features of the prior art printed circuit board 20 ofFIGS. 1-4 that are the same in the printed circuit board 34 of FIGS.5-12 will be referred to with the same reference numbers.

FIG. 5 shows the front side of the printed circuit board 34 similar toprinted circuit board 20 shown in FIG. 2. However, rather than holes 24through the printed circuit board as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 beingpresented to the user on the front side of the board through which theuser inserts component leads to be soldered to the conductive pads 26 ofthe conductive traces 22 on the back side of the board, conductivecontact pads 36 are presented to the user on the front side of printedcircuit board 34. The conductive contact pads 36 of the invention arelocated approximately where holes 24 are located in printed circuitboard 20 of FIG. 2 and are electrically connected to the conductivetraces 22 on the back side of the board. The electrical connectionbetween the conductive contact pads 36 shown on the front side of theboard 34 and the conductive pads 26 of the conductive traces 22 on theopposite or back side of the board 34 can be made in any desired manner.For example, the inside of the holes 24 extending through the printedcircuit board 20 of FIGS. 1 and 2, (circuit board 34 in FIG. 12) can beplated with a conductive material 38, as shown in FIG. 12. Conductivematerial 38 is in electrical contact with conductive pads 26 surroundingthe holes 24 on the back side of the board and extends through the holes24 to the front side of board 34 where it makes electrical contact withconductive contact pad 36 on the front side of board 34. Alternately, aconductor, such as a wire or a metal post, can be connected, such as bysoldering, etc., to the underside of the conductive contact pad 36, passthrough the hole 24 under the conductive contact pad 36, and be solderedor otherwise electrically connected to the conductive pad 26 surroundinghole 24 on the back side of board 34. In another alternate connection,solder can extend through the hole 24 and form the conductor connectingthe conductive contact pad 36 with the conductive lead 22. Various otherconnection methods can be used. In one embodiment of the invention, theconductive contact pads 36 on the front side of the printed circuitboard are formed of a material which attracts magnets, such as aferromagnetic material.

The conductive contact pads 36 are arranged in a predetermined manner sothat circuit components for the circuit to be built can be connectedbetween selected contact pads 36. This predetermined manner willgenerally be standardized for particular situations. For example, therecan be a predetermined standardized manner, such as a predetermineddistance between two conductive contact pads 36, for components havingtwo leads to be connected and a different predetermined manner, such asa predetermined geometric arrangement of three conductive contact pads36 with a predetermined distance between each of the three contact pads,for components having three leads to be connected. If desired, differentpredetermined standardized manners can be provided for different typesof components having the same number of leads. For example, differentpredetermined distances between conductive contact pads 36 could beprovided for different types of two lead components such as onestandardized distance for resistors, another standardized distance forcapacitors, etc. Different standardized geometrical patterns fordifferent types of components having three or more leads could beprovided to differentiate the different types of these components.

For ease of illustration and explanation, FIG. 5 also shows transformers39, on-off switch 40, and wires 41 from a power supply, such as abattery holder, not shown, installed in prior art manner such as bysoldering, preinstalled on board 34. However, these components could beprovided in magnetic component connectors of the invention to beconnected to the printed circuit board in the manner of the invention aswill be explained, rather than in prior art manner.

FIG. 6 shows a magnetic component connector 42 of the invention. For anembodiment of the invention where conductive contact pads 36 are formedof a material which attracts magnets, the magnetic component connector42 has two electrically conductive magnetic legs 43 held in apredetermined orientation by a nonelectrically conductive or insulatingjoiner 44 connecting and positioning the magnetic legs 43. As shown inFIG. 6, an electronic component, here a light sensor 45, has two leads46 with one lead 46 electrically connected to the head or top 47 of oneof the magnetic legs 43 and the other lead 46 connected to the head ortop 47 of the other of the magnetic legs 43. The connection of the leads46 to the tops 47 of the magnetic legs 43 may be made in any desiredmanner, such as by soldering. Alternately, the tops 47 of the magneticlegs 43 could be provided with a terminal, such as a screw or clipterminal, or with an electrically conductive clip of various types towhich the component leads can be connected. FIG. 7 shows a similar twoleg magnetic component connector 42 with leads 48 connecting a speaker50 to the tops 47 of the respective magnetic legs 43. FIG. 8 shows asimilar two leg magnetic connector 42 with leads 52 from a resistor 54connected to the tops of respective legs 43. FIG. 9 shows a similar twoleg magnetic connector with leads 56 from a capacitor 58 connected torespective legs 43. It should be noted that the magnetic componentconnector 42, rather than having an actual electronic componentconnected between the legs, can also merely have a conductor, such as awire, connected between the legs to form a jumper. For purposes of thisdisclosure, a wire or other conductor will be considered as anelectronic component and the jumper as a magnetic component connector.

If desired, a cover or magnetic component connector case top 60, FIG. 8,can be provided to be attached to joiner 44 over the electroniccomponent and lead connections to the legs. This will provide protectionfor the component and for a user. Joiner 44 will form a connector casebottom with legs 43 extending therefrom. The cover 60 and joiner 44 canbe configured so that cover 60 snaps onto joiner 44, removably ifdesired, or cover 60 can be glued or otherwise secured to joiner 44 toform a case encasing the electronic component. Depending upon thecomponent enclosed by the cover, the cover can be transparent or canhave a transparent window provided in the top of the cover to eitherdisplay the component to the user or expose the component to theenvironment surrounding the case. For example, with a light sensor asshown in FIG. 6, a transparent cover or transparent window would allowthe light sensor to sense the ambient light around the magneticcomponent connector. A light sensor would not work as usually desired ifit was enclosed in an opaque cover as no ambient light could reach thesensor. Also, the cover can be labeled with identification information61 identifying the electronic component within the cover. For example,if the electronic component is a resistor, the top or side of the covercan be marked with a resistor symbol and the value of the resistance. Acapacitor can be similarly labeled with the capacitor symbol andcapacitance value. A transistor, in a three leg connector, can belabeled with the transistor symbol and the transistor number. Varioustypes of markings can be used.

FIG. 10 shows a three leg magnetic component connector 62 with leads 63connecting a transistor 64 to three respective leg tops 65 of threemagnetic legs 66 (only two magnetic legs being visible). The legs 66 areheld in position by joiner 67. If, as shown, the three leg arrangementhas three legs equally spaced, the connector will be marked in some way,such as by marking one of the legs or by marking the top or sides of acase cover over the transistor, to identify which legs correspond to thebase, emitter, and/or collector of the transistor. If the legarrangement is distinctive, such distinctive arrangement will generallybe standardized for the three transistor leads so that the transistorbase, collector, and emitter will always be connected to the same legsof the distinctive three leg connector.

The predetermined orientation of the legs 43 of the magnetic componentconnectors 42 are coordinated with the predetermined manner ofarrangement of the conductive contact pads 36 of magnet attractingmaterial on the printed circuit board. Thus, if the contact pads 36 onthe printed circuit board are arranged with a predetermined distancebetween the pads for components having two leads, the magnetic componentconnectors 42 for use with components having two leads have a legorientation such that the connector has two legs 43 with the legs spacedapart the same distance as the distance between the two circuit boardcontact pads 36 to which the component is to be connected. A magneticcomponent connector with the desired component secured thereto can thenbe easily connected to the two contact pads of the printed circuit boardfor that component to connect the desired component between the twodesired circuit board contact pads. If a different predetermined mannerof arrangement, such as a different distance between printed circuitboard contact pads, is provided for different types of components, suchas one distance for a resistor and a different distance for a capacitor,different magnetic component connectors will be provided with differentpredetermined leg orientations (distances between the legs) matching thedifferent contact pad distances for the resistors and for thecapacitors. A three lead magnetic component connector will have a legorientation of three legs to match the three contact pad arrangement ofthe three contact pads for connection of such a three lead component tothe printed circuit board. In this way, the components needed for thecircuit can be easily attached to the printed circuit board to createthe desired circuit. Also, depending upon the different pad arrangementsand the different connector leg orientations, a user can be guided todifferent degrees in connecting the proper components to the properpads. Users can also determine the placement of magnetic componentconnectors with respect to the printed circuit board by matchingcomponent identification indicia, see 61, FIG. 8, on the magneticcomponent connector with component identification indicia, see 28, FIGS.5 and 10, on the printed circuit board.

The magnetic component connectors make connection of the components tothe printed circuit board easy. FIG. 11 shows the assembled circuitusing the printed circuit board 34 of FIG. 5 with all components thatare mounted on magnetic component connectors installed. To install acomponent, the user merely selects a component that has been connectedto a magnetic component connector, such as the magnetic componentconnector attached to the speaker 50 as shown in FIG. 7, locates theposition where the speaker should be connected to the printed circuitboard, here to the conductive contact pads 36 along the left side of theprinted circuit board 34 in FIG. 11 (as shown in FIGS. 3 and 5, theindication SP is positioned between the holes 24, FIG. 3, and contactpads 36, FIG. 5, along the left side of the printed circuit board), andpositions the connector over the appropriate conductive pads 36 andmoves the magnetic legs 43 of the magnetic component connector 42 towardthe conductive pads 36. The magnetic legs 43 will be attracted to theconductive contact pads 36 and connect to the conductive contact pads 36through magnetic forces and be connected in the position as shown inFIG. 11. The remaining two leg magnetic component connectors withcomponents as shown in FIGS. 6-9 are similarly installed on printedcircuit board 34 and are shown installed on the circuit board in FIG.11. The three leg magnetic component connector 62 of FIG. 10, issimilarly positioned with respect to the three contact pads 36 labeled EC B in FIG. 5, to connect transistor 64 to the circuit board as shown inFIG. 11. While other components such as transformers 39, on-off switch40, and wires 41 connected to battery connector or holder 68 are showninstalled on circuit board 34 in FIG. 11 in traditional manner, this isshown this way merely for purposes of illustration of the invention. Theinvention contemplates that most, if not all, of the circuit componentswill be installed using magnetic component connectors of the invention.Thus, the transformers, on-off switch, and battery holder could also bemounted on magnetic component connectors for magnetic connection to thecircuit board 34 by the user.

If a component needs to be removed, the magnetic component connectorwith that component is easily pulled from the conductive pads 36. Whenremoved, the component can easily be rearranged or replaced with analternate component by rearrangement of the magnetic component connectoror by substitution of another magnetic component connector carrying thealternate component.

While the conductive pads 36 of the printed circuit boards of theinvention can be arranged on the front side of the printed circuit boardas shown in FIGS. 5 and 11, the pads can alternately be placed on thebackside of the printed circuit board. The magnetic component connectorscan be attached to the pads on the backside in the same manner as shownfor the pads on the front side of the printed circuit board, or theholes 24 through the printed circuit board can be enlarged to a size toallow the magnetic legs 43 of the magnetic component connectors to passtherethrough. These enlarged holes are shown in FIG. 13 as holes 70through printed circuit board 71. In such case, the contact pads 36,secured to conductive pads 26 of conductive traces 22 on the backside ofthe printed circuit board can be arranged to cover and form ends of theenlarged holes 70 and the magnetic legs 43 of the magnetic componentconnectors can be connected from the front side of the board as shown inFIG. 11, but with the connector magnetic legs 43 passing through theholes 70 in the board and attaching to the pads 36 at the ends of theholes adjacent the back side of the board 71.

Further, while separate conductive contact pads 36 of material whichattracts magnets are shown in FIG. 13 attached to the printed circuitboard and electrically connected to printed circuit board conductivepads 26, the conductive pads 26 themselves, FIG. 14, may be formed ofmaterial which attracts magnets and may be arranged on a printed circuitboard 72 to have exposed portions thereof or enlarged pad portionsthereof with the predetermine manner of arrangement so that magneticlegs 43 of magnetic component connectors can be attracted to andmagnetically attached directly to the conductive pads 26, or to othermagnet attracting portions of conductive traces 22 without the provisionof the additional conductive contact pads 36.

Magnetic component connectors have so far been shown for two and threelead electronic components. Similar magnetic component connectors can beprovided for other types of electronic components such as integratedcircuits which may have many leads extending therefrom. FIG. 15 shows aneight lead integrated circuit magnetic component connector of theinvention. Eight lead integrated circuit 74 with leads 75 is mounted ona printed circuit board 76. The leads 75 are electrically connected toterminal pads 77 with traces 78 leading to conductive pads 79 aroundholes 80. Magnetic legs 81 are inserted through and secured in holes 80,with leg heads 82 in electrical contact with conductive pads 79. Forexample, legs 81 may be sized to have a friction fit in printed circuitboard receiving holes 80 so that when inserted through holes 80 with theleg heads 82 against conductive pads 79 the legs are securely held byfriction in the holes. The leg heads 82 can be soldered or glued withelectrically conductive glue to conductive pads 79 to ensure goodelectrical contact and to further secure the legs 81 to the printedcircuit board 76. Various other ways of mounting legs 81 to printedcircuit board 76 can be used. With an eight lead integrated circuit, atleast eight magnetic legs 81 will generally be provided to provide amagnetic leg 81 for each component lead 75. The printed circuit board 76with integrated circuit 74 thereon and legs 81 extending therefrom canbe used in that form as an eight leg magnetic electronic componentconnector to be connected to up to eight conductive pads provided on aprinted circuit board similarly to the connections described for two andthree leg connectors. If desired, the printed circuit board 76 can bemounted in a case with a case bottom 83 and case cover 84. Magnetic legs81 extend through holes 85 in case bottom 83 This then provides eightmagnetic legs extending from the bottom of the case. The case can belabeled, such as on the top of the case, to indicate the particularintegrated circuit encased therein. Similar magnetic connectors can beprovided for integrated circuits having different numbers of leads.

The embodiment of FIG. 15 shows all eight legs of the connector rigidlymounted and extending from printed circuit board 74, and, if present,from the connector case bottom 82. In such case, it is important thatall legs extend exactly the same distance so all legs will contact aflat surface and it is important that the conductive pads to which thelegs are to be connected all form a flat surface, i.e., are all arrangedin the same level plane, so that all legs will make good contact withall conductive pads to which the respective legs are to be connected. Ifone or more leg is short or one or more leg is long, or if the pads arenot arranged in a level plane, all of the legs will not make contactwith the pads to which they are to be connected and the circuit to beconstructed will not operate. This potential problem of all legs notmaking good contact generally applies to magnetic component connectorshaving four or more legs. Connectors with three or less legs generallywill not have this problem as the three legs will always be able tocontact three pads. In order to ensure that all legs will make goodelectrical connection with respective intended pads, the legs may bespring loaded so can adjust to uneven conductive pads or compensate fordifferences in leg extension lengths from the connector. Referring toFIG. 16, a magnetic component connector similar to that of FIG. 15 showsthe eight lead integrated circuit 74 with leads 75 mounted to printedcircuit board 76 as in FIG. 15, however, the magnetic legs 81 in FIG. 15are replaced by spring loaded magnetic legs 86 so that they will adjustto any imperfections in leg mounting length or unevenness in padpositioning.

Magnetic legs 86 are sized to freely move in receiving holes 88 inprinted circuit board 76. Springs 90 are positioned between leg heads 92and conductive pads 79 to bias magnetic legs 86 in the direction of thefront side of the board. Springs 90 can be conductively connected toconductive pads 79, such as by soldering or gluing and similarlyconductively connected to leg heads 92. With this arrangement, it isadvantageous to use a connector cover such as provided by case bottom 83and case cover 84 to protect the spring mounted legs 86. When the coveris used, it is not necessary to connect the spring to either theconductive pads 79 or the magnetic leg head 92 as the spring pressurewill usually make a satisfactory connection. Further, the connector casecover 84 will limit the travel of the magnetic leg in the biaseddirection into the case and toward the case cover 84. Padding or spacingmaterial can be provided inside the cover to form a stop for the legsagainst the bias if desired and as necessary to provide the desiredamount of leg travel under bias of the spring 90 into the case. Whilevarious bias arrangements can be used, with the arrangement shown, thelegs are biased by springs 90 into the case. When the case is placedover the conductive contact pads to which the legs are to connect, thelegs will be magnetically attracted to the contact pads to which theyare to be connected, and as the connector approaches the contact pads,the legs 86 will be drawn outwardly from the bottom of the case againstthe bias of the springs 90 to attach to the contact pads. As the case isreleased to connection with the contact pads, the springs will againretract into the case to the extent permitted by the arrangement of thecontact pads and lengths of the legs so that all legs maintain goodmagnetic contact and connection with the pads. If the pads are uneven orthe leg length is uneven, the retraction of the legs into the case willequalize with some legs extending farther from the case than others sothat good connection is made between all legs and all contact pads asshown by FIG. 17. Thus, as shown by FIG. 17, contact pads 94 are not allarranged in the same flat plane. Some of the contact pads 94 are higherthan other contact pads. The legs 86 that are connected to the lowercontact pads extend further from the connector by compressing springs 90to a greater extent than the legs that do not extend as far. The legs 86that extend further from the connector have more space between the topor heads of the leg and the inside of the top cover 84 than do the legsthat do not extend as far.

While the legs in FIGS. 15, 16 and 17 are shown with heads to hold thesprings, the legs can be straight with no head and with various otherarrangements to hold the springs. For example, as shown in FIG. 24, aleg 86 could have a groove 95 therein near one end to receive aC-retaining ring 96 to form an enlarged flange on the leg 86 to hold thespring 90 similarly to the heads 92. As shown in FIG. 25, a leg 86 couldhave a hole therethrough to receive a pin 97, such as a cotter pin, tohold a washer 98 to form an enlarged flange on the leg to hold spring90. As shown in FIG. 26, a leg 86 could have a cap 99, such as a plasticcap, frictionally held on the end of the leg 86 or glued to the end ofthe leg 86 to form an enlarged flange for holding the spring 90.Alternately, various other spring retaining structures could be used.Further, the springs could be placed to bias the legs outwardly with theuneven pads or shorter legs causing all of the legs to move inwardlyrather than outwardly to equalize the leg positioning.

So far the magnetic component connector has shown individual electroniccomponents, such as resistors, capacitors, transistor, integratedcircuits, etc. mounted in the magnetic component connectors to be theneasily connected to a printed circuit board or a breadboard device.However, various preassembled sub-circuits can also be mounted in themagnetic component connectors and easily magnetically connected by auser, in the manner described, to a larger circuit. FIG. 18 shows aprinted circuit board 100 with various components 101 which can includeintegrated circuits, resistors, capacitors, transistors, etc., mountedthereon and interconnected in normal manner by traces on the back sideof the printed circuit board (not shown), to form a circuit which can beconnected as a sub-circuit in a larger circuit. Circuit board 100 haswires 102 extending therefrom connected to various input and outputpoints on the back side of the circuit board, not shown, with the wires102 connected to the heads 103 of magnetic legs 104 of a magneticcomponent connector. In the embodiment of the connector shown in FIG.18, the legs are spring mounted to a base 106 which serves as a magneticcomponent connector case bottom. A case cover 108 is secured to the base106 to cover the circuit mounted therein. The legs 104 pass throughholes 109 in base 106 and are spring mounted similarly to the legs ofFIGS. 16 and 17, by springs 110, but are mounted directly to the coverbottom or base 106, rather than to the printed circuit board 100. Themagnetic legs can be similarly mounted directly to the base or bottom ofthe case when mounting just an integrated circuit as in FIGS. 15-17, orthe printed circuit board forming the sub-circuit of FIG. 18 can havethe legs mounted to the printed circuit board similarly to theembodiment of FIGS. 16 and 17 or in fixed position as shown in FIG. 15.Legs can also be mounted directly to the base in rigid manner as in FIG.15, rather than being spring mounted.

In addition, while the legs in FIGS. 16 and 17 are shown as springloaded or biased, it is not necessary that the legs be biased to providegood contacts. The legs can merely be loosely received through themounting holes so that they can move up and down through the holes. Themagnetic force between the legs and the contact pads will cause each legto make good contact with the pad and will appropriately position thelegs in the component connector. This will work well when wiresconnecting the components are connected directly to the legs, as shownin FIG. 18.

FIG. 19 shows a breadboard arrangement for circuit building. With thisbreadboard arrangement, metal conductive power traces 120 and 121 areshown on the surface of breadboard 122. Power traces 120 and 121 cansupply opposite AC polarity power or can supply positive and negativepolarity DC power. One of the traces will usually be consideredelectrical ground for the circuit. Appropriate power for the circuit tobe constructed on the breadboard is supplied to the power traces throughpower contact pads 123 and 124. In the usual breadboard arrangement, thepower traces 120 and 121 extend in spaced pairs up and down lengthwise(vertically as shown in FIGS. 19 and 20) on the breadboard, while rowsof contacts 125 are provided extending widthwise (horizontally as shownin FIGS. 19 and 20) between the spaced pairs of power traces. Therespective rows of contacts 125 are spaced vertically form one another.Each row of contacts 125 between a pair of power traces are electricallyconnected together, but the respective rows are electrically isolatedfrom one another. In traditional breadboard arrangements, an insulatingcover provides the surface of the breadboard and contacts 125 are holesor openings in which to insert the ends of electronic component leadswhich are to be connected, and holes are also provided along the powertraces into which component leads to be connected to the source of powerare inserted. PCT Application No. PCT/KR2006/003696 shows a breadboardarrangement similar to that shown in FIGS. 19 and 20 in which electroniccomponents to be used in constructing circuits on the breadboard aresupplied in magnetic component connectors similar to those describedherein, and in which the components are magnetically connected to thebreadboard contacts rather than inserted into or otherwise connected tothe contacts as in traditional breadboards. In the breadboardarrangement of the cited PCT Application, contacts 125 are provided asholes in the insulating cover, and holes are provided along the powertraces through which magnetic component connector legs are inserted tobe magnetically connected to the contacts or traces.

In the present invention, however, power traces 120 and 121 can bemounted on the surface of the bread board as can contacts 125. The powertraces 120 and 121 and contacts 125 are formed of a material to whichmagnets are attracted. One or more test printed circuit boards 126 withconductive contact pads 127 as previously described, can be mounted onbreadboard 122, such as by magnetic connectors which could connect tocertain contacts 125 under the board, or by pegs that could be insertedinto receiving holes provided in the breadboard, not shown. As shown inFIG. 20, test printed circuit board 126 is provided with a plurality ofconductive contact pads 127 similar to the conductive contact padspreviously described. A magnetic component connector 128, here forming ajumper, connects power trace 120 on breadboard 122 to an appropriateconductive contact pad 127 on test printed circuit board 126 (conductivecontact pads 127 are not visible under the magnetic componentconnectors). A similar jumper 129 connects an appropriate conductive pad127 of the printed circuit board to the other power trace 121. Variousmagnetic component connectors 130 connect components between desiredconductive pads 127 of printed circuit board 126. Further, variousmagnetic component connectors 132 can connect appropriate selectedconductive contact pads 127 of the printed circuit board 126 to contacts125 of the breadboard 122, while additional magnetic componentconnectors 134 can be used to interconnect rows of isolated contacts125. In this way, various circuits can be easily designed and tested.Printed circuit board 126 can be configured to form a particular circuitwhen appropriate components are connected which can then become asub-circuit of a larger circuit to be constructed on the breadboard, orprinted circuit board 126 can be configured as a separate andindependent breadboard where various circuits can be formed byconnection of desired components between appropriate conductive contactpads 127 forming interconnection sites in a manner similar to a standardbreadboard.

FIG. 27 shows a further embodiment of printed circuit board according tothe invention which is really a substitute for a printed circuit board,but, for purposes of the invention, will be considered a printed circuitboard. The board of FIG. 27 includes a piece of cardboard or othermaterial forming the base 160 for the circuit. The base can have arepresentation of the circuit to be built printed thereon, which caninclude color representations of the magnetic component connectors usedin the circuit. A plastic overlay 162 can be placed on or laminated tothe top of base 160 to protect it. Pins 164 a, 164 b, 164 c, and 164 d,with heads 166 extend through the base 160, with heads 166 forming theconductive contact pads for magnetic attachment of the legs 168 of amagnetic component connector. Rather than conductive traces 22 beingadhered to the backside of the board as in the conventional printedcircuit board as shown in FIGS. 1 and 4, wires 170 connect respectivepins 164 a, 164 b, 164 c, and 164 d to be connected. The wires can beconnected to the respective pins in various ways. In the embodimentshown in FIG. 27, wires 170 are wrapped around the pins to which theyare to be connected. As shown, a wire 170 is wrapped around pin 164 aand extends to and is wrapped around pin 164 c to electrically connectpins 164 a and 164 c. Another wire 170 is wrapped around pin 164 b andextends to and is wrapped around pin 164 d to electrically connect pins164 c and 164 d. Any number of pins can be provided to extend throughbase 160 and to be interconnected by wires 170 in any desired circuitconfiguration, the wires taking the place of the normal conductivetraces on a printed circuit board. While the wires 170 are shown spacedfrom the bottom surface of board 160, this is for illustration purposesas such wire will normally extend substantially along the bottom surfaceof board 160. A plastic lock washer 172 is slid onto each pin 164 a, 164b, 164 c, 164 d, and all other pins provided through the base 160 tosecure the pins in place and protect the wires 170 where wrapped aroundthe respective pin. Again, while shown spaced from the bottom of board160, this is for illustration purposes and the lock washers 172 arenormally positioned tightly against the bottom of board 160. If desired,to hold the pins in place during wire connection, a locking washer canbe placed on the respective pins prior to connection of the wires tohold the pins in place with respect to the base, with a second lockingwasher placed on the pins after connection of the connecting wires 170to protect the wrapping or other connection of the wires. The board ofFIG. 27 can be used for producing low cost educational electroniccircuit kits since the cardboard is less expensive than printed circuitboard material, and nice looking representations in color of the circuitto be built can easily be printed on the cardboard.

As can be seen from FIG. 27, pins 164 extend below the bottom of board160 through which they extend. This can be a potential problem if thecircuit board is placed on an electrically conductive surface, such as ametal tray, because the electrically conductive surface can short outpins 160. Thus, it is generally good practice to provide a rim or edge174 around board 160, or other support such as legs, to support board160 and the ends of pins 164 above a supporting surface to preventaccidental shorting between pins. When board 160 is made of cardboard,the rim 174 can also be cardboard and constructed in the form of aportion of a cardboard box, such as a top for a cardboard box, with rim174 extending around the perimeter of board 160 to support it.

While it is currently preferred for good electrical contact between eachleg of the magnetic component connector with the circuit board contactpads that each leg be magnetic to be attracted to the contact pad withwhich it is to be electrically connected, less than all legs of amagnetic component connector can be magnetic with those nonmagnetic legsheld in contact with the conductive pad by the force applied to theconnector by the legs that are magnetic. Thus, with a three legconnector, it is possible to make two of the legs magnetic, with one legnonmagnetic, but held in conductive attachment with a conductive padwhen the connector is attached to a circuit board by the force of thetwo magnetic legs.

According to the invention, a circuit board of the invention designed tomake a particular circuit can be supplied as part of a kit along with aplurality of magnetic component connectors having the requiredelectronic components for the particular circuit pre-connected to themagnetic component connectors so that a user of the kit has everythingnecessary for building the circuit and can easily connect the requiredcomponents to the circuit board to make the particular circuit. Inaddition or alternately, magnetic component connectors with particularelectronic components pre-connected thereto can be separatelyindividually made available to users so that a user can separatelyacquire different components for building or modifying a circuit.Further and/or alternately, magnetic component connectors can beprovided without electronic components pre-connected thereto so that auser can acquire desired components for a circuit and connect suchcomponents to the magnetic component connectors and then connect suchcomponents to a circuit using the magnetic component connector. Ratherthan the printed circuit board being configured to form a particularcircuit, the printed circuit board can be configured to alternately formseveral different circuits depending upon which magnetic componentconnectors with which specific components are selectively connectedbetween which conductive contact pads. Further, the printed circuitboard can be configured similarly to a breadboard so that a user canattach desired components between desired interconnection conductivecontact pads as a user would with a conventional breadboard. Thus, theprinted circuit board would be configured with power connectionconductive pads and with a plurality of interconnection conductivecontact pads.

While the magnetic component connectors have been described withmagnetic legs which are attracted to the conductive contact pads made ofa material to which magnets are attracted, the invention can besimilarly implemented by making the conductive pads of magnets andmaking the legs of the magnetic component connectors of the materialthat attracts magnets. In this way, the legs are still attracted to andattached to the conductive pads by magnetic force. Thus, the conductivepads 36 in FIG. 5 could each be magnets. In such case, legs 43 of themagnetic component connectors would be made of material to which magnetsare attracted, rather than being magnets, so would be attracted to andwould attach to pads 36 by magnetic force.

Similarly, referring to FIGS. 3 and 4 of the cited PCT Application No.PCT/KR2006/003696, base 107 as shown in those drawings made of amaterial to which magnets are attracted could be a magnet, for example,made of the same magnet material as flat refrigerator magnets, and thelegs 126 of the magnetic component connectors shown in PCT drawingsFIGS. 6-8 and 11 would then be made of material attracted by magnets,rather than being magnets, to provide the attraction and attachment ofthe legs 126 to the selected pads 101, 102, and 105 by magnetic force.

Rather than, or in combination with, the magnetic component connectorsbeing magnetically connectable to a printed circuit board or abreadboard device to interconnect the components of the magneticcomponent connectors, the magnetic component connectors can be configureto connect directly to one another. FIG. 21 shows a two lead magneticcomponent connector similar to the connectors shown in FIGS. 6-9, andFIG. 22 shows a three lead connector similar to the connector shown inFIG. 10. These connectors include an insulated leg joiner 140 with legsextending from opposite sides of the joiner, such as shown in FIGS.21-23 as the bottom and top sides of the joiner. The legs can take theform of a short magnetic leg portion 141 extending from one side of thejoiner (the bottom side as shown) and a short magnetic leg portion 142extending from the opposite side of the joiner (the top side as shown).As with the prior magnetic component connectors, an electronic componentis connected between the legs, which component can also include a wireto form a jumper. The leg portions 141 and 142 will usually be alignedand can be formed from the same leg piece extending through theconnector so as to extend from both sides of the connector to form thetwo leg portions 141 and 142 of each leg. Magnetic component connectorswith any desired number of magnetic legs can be used.

With this arrangement, the connectors can be mounted on a base 144having securement pads 146 of a material to which magnets are attractedarranged in a grid or other arrangement pattern. These securement pads146 can be mounted on the base merely as mounting pads with noelectrical interconnection of the pads, or some of the pads may beelectrically interconnected in a desired manner or pattern. The magneticlegs of various connectors can be mounted to the securement pads of thebase to form a stable mounting for a circuit to be built, such asconnectors 150, 151, and 155, with other connectors 154, 156, and 152connected directly to the connectors 150, 151 and 155 through the directconnection of magnetic leg portions from each connector. Thus, the shortlegs extending downwardly from the ends of connector 154 in thearrangement shown in FIG. 23 are connected directly to the short legsextending upwardly from connectors 150 and 151. The short legs extendingdownwardly from connector 156 is secured to the short legs extendingupwardly from connectors 151 and 155. The short legs extendingdownwardly from connector 152 are secured to the short leg extendingupwardly from connector 156 and, through a magnetic leg extender 157, tothe base 144. The various connectors can be connected and interconnectedin various ways to create various circuits.

Rather than the securement pads 146 on the base to which componentconnectors can be magnetically connected to stabilize and form a basefor building a circuit, a base can be provided with a plurality of holesrather that securement pads. The holes can be arranged similarly to thepads 146 in base 144 of FIG. 23, and FIG. 23 can be looked at asproviding a grid of holes 146. The legs of the component connectorssecured to the base 144 are then inserted into the holes 146 to mountthem to the base. The component connector legs extending into thereceiving holes will provide stabilization of the circuit with respectto the base. When using holes through the base to mount and stabilizethe circuit being constructed, the holes and legs should be such thatthe legs do not extend from the bottom side of the base where, if thebase is placed on an electrically conductive surface, the legs extendingthrough the base could be accidentally shorted by the electricallyconductive surface. Thus, a bottom surface, such as a non-slip ornon-skid pad can be applied over the bottom surface of the base to forma bottom for each hole so that the magnetic component connector legs donot extend to or from the bottom surface, and to reduce or eliminaterelative movement of the base on a supporting surface. Alternately, thebase can be made thick enough so that the legs of the componentconnectors will not extend all of the way through the base when thecomponent connector is mounted on the base. Where holes in the base areused, leg extenders, such as 157, can include a flange positionedsimilarly as the component connector joiners to limit the distance theleg extender can extend into the hole. The base can be made of variousmaterials such as plastic or cardboard, with a piece of cardboard havinga plastic sheet laminated to the top surface of the cardboard, and withholes therethrough for receiving legs of the component connectors, beingan economical choice. The base could also have a rim or side to elevateit above a supporting surface similar to that shown in FIG. 27.

When the magnetic component connectors are provided with magnets aslegs, generally the legs will all have the same magnetic polarityorientations, although, in some circumstances, different magneticpolarity orientations may be desired.

Whereas the invention is here illustrated and described with referenceto embodiments thereof presently contemplated as the best mode ofcarrying out the invention in actual practice, it is to be understoodthat various changes may be made in adapting the invention to differentembodiments without departing from the broader inventive conceptsdisclosed herein and comprehended by the claims that follow.

1. A magnetic component connector for connecting electronic componentsto form an electronic circuit, comprising: a plurality of electricallyconductive magnetic legs, each leg being a magnet; a nonelectricallyconductive joiner holding the plurality of magnetic legs, the joinerhaving opposite sides with each magnetic leg being accessible on each ofsaid opposite joiner sides; and means for electrically connecting leadsof an electronic component to respective magnetic legs; whereby aplurality of magnetic component connectors are adapted to bemagnetically interconnected by magnetically connecting one of theplurality of electrically conductive magnetic legs of one magneticcomponent connector directly to one of the plurality of electricallyconductive magnetic legs of another magnetic component connector to forman electronic circuit.
 2. A magnetic component connector for connectingelectronic components to form an electronic circuit, according to claim1, wherein each magnetic leg includes a leg portion extending outwardlyfrom at least one of the opposite sides of the joiner.
 3. A magneticcomponent connector for connecting electronic components to form anelectronic circuit, according to claim 1, wherein each magnetic leg ofthe plurality of electrically conductive magnetic legs includes a firstleg portion extending outwardly from one of the opposite sides of thejoiner and a second leg portion forming a conductive pad accessible onthe opposite side of the joiner, whereby the first leg portions of theplurality of electrically conductive magnetic legs of one magneticcomponent connector are adapted to magnetically connect directly to asecond leg portion of another magnetic component connector.
 4. Amagnetic component connector for connecting electronic components toform an electronic circuit, according to claim 3, additionally includinga base for stabilizing at least one magnetic component connector, saidbase including a plurality of pads of material which attract a magnetfor attracting and holding at least one first leg portion of theplurality of electrically conductive magnetic legs of at least onecomponent connector.
 5. A magnetic component connector for connectingelectronic components to form an electronic circuit, according to claim4, wherein the base is made of cardboard.
 6. A magnetic componentconnector for connecting electronic components to form an electroniccircuit, according to claim 4, wherein the base includes a circuit boardon which the plurality of conductive contact pads are formed, and meanselectrically interconnecting selected conductive contact pads of theplurality of conductive contact pads.
 7. A circuit board according toclaim 6, wherein the circuit board is a printed circuit board and themeans interconnecting selected conductive pads include electricallyconductive traces on the printed circuit board.
 8. A circuit boardaccording to claim 7, wherein the printed circuit board has two broadopposing sides, wherein the conductive traces are positioned on onebroad side, wherein the conductive pads are positioned on the otherbroad side, and wherein respective conductive pads are electricallyconnected to selected conductive traces.
 9. A magnetic componentconnector for connecting electronic components to form an electroniccircuit, according to claim 1, additionally including a base forstabilizing at least one magnetic component connector, said baseincluding a plurality of conductive contact pads of material whichattract a magnet for attracting and holding at least one leg of theplurality of electrically conductive magnetic legs of at least onecomponent connector.
 10. A magnetic component connector for connectingelectronic components to form an electronic circuit, according to claim9, wherein the base includes a circuit board on which the plurality ofconductive contact pads are formed, and means electricallyinterconnecting selected conductive contact pads of the plurality ofconductive contact pads.
 11. A circuit board according to claim 10,wherein the circuit board is a printed circuit board and the meansinterconnecting selected conductive pads include electrically conductivetraces on the printed circuit board.
 12. A circuit board according toclaim 11, wherein the printed circuit board has two broad opposingsides, wherein the conductive traces are positioned on one broad side,wherein the conductive pads are positioned on the other broad side, andwherein respective conductive pads are electrically connected toselected conductive traces.
 13. A breadboard kit for assemblingelectronic circuits, comprising: an interconnection sheet having a pairof power traces and a plurality of conductive interconnection contactsmounted on the interconnection sheet and insulated from the powertraces; a plurality of magnetic component connectors, each having aplurality of electrically conductive legs held in a predetermineorientation, one of either the plurality of legs or a portion of theinterconnection sheet being magnets and the other being of a material towhich magnets are attracted; and a plurality of electronic components,respective electronic components having electronic component leadsconnected to respective legs of one of the plurality of magneticcomponent connectors; whereby a selected electronic component can beconnected between respective power traces and/or conductiveinterconnection contacts which are spaced apart in the predeterminedmanner by magnetic force by placing respective legs of a selectedmagnetic component connector having the predetermined orientation tomate with selected respective power traces and/or conductive contactpads to thereby connect circuit components to the interconnection sheetto construct a desired circuit.
 14. A breadboard kit for assemblingelectronic circuits according to claim 13, wherein the interconnectionsheet has opposite faces; wherein the power traces, and theinterconnection contacts are located on one face of the interconnectionsheet, and wherein the means for allowing connection of magneticcomponent connectors to the power traces and/or interconnection contactsby magnetic force is a base of material to which magnets are attractedpositioned adjacent the opposite face of the interconnection sheet, andthe interconnection sheet is of a material through which magnetic forcewill pass whereby a magnet will be attracted to the base through theinterconnection sheet to be held against one or more selected powertrace and/or interconnection contact of the interconnection sheet.
 15. Abreadboard kit for assembling electronic circuits according to claim 13,wherein the interconnection sheet has opposite faces; wherein the powertraces and the interconnection contacts are located on one face of theinterconnection sheet, and wherein the means for allowing connection ofmagnetic component connectors to the power traces and/or interconnectioncontacts by magnetic force is a magnetic base positioned adjacent theopposite face of the interconnection sheet, and the interconnectionsheet is of a material through which magnetic force will pass whereby amagnetic component connector conductive leg of material which isattracted by a magnet will be attracted to the base through theinterconnection sheet to be held against one or more selected powertrace and/or interconnection contact of the interconnection sheet.
 16. Abreadboard kit for assembling electronic circuits according to claim 13,wherein the means for allowing connection of magnetic componentconnectors to the power traces and/or interconnection contacts bymagnetic force is a material to which magnets are attracted which formsthe power traces and interconnection contacts on the interconnectionsheet.
 17. A breadboard kit for assembling electronic circuits accordingto claim 13, wherein the means for allowing connection of magneticcomponent connectors to the power traces and/or interconnection contactsby magnetic force is a magnetic material which forms the power tracesand interconnection contacts on the interconnection sheet.
 18. Abreadboard kit for assembling electronic circuits according to claim 13,wherein the means for allowing connection of magnetic componentconnectors to the power traces and/or interconnection contacts are alllocated on the surface of the breadboard which forms the interconnectionsheet.